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Why ConnectOne Bancorp (CNOB) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

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All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

ConnectOne Bancorp (CNOB - Free Report) is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 23.76% since the start of the year. The holding company for ConnectOne Bank is paying out a dividend of $0.19 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.4% compared to the Banks - Northeast industry's yield of 2.23% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.43%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.78 is up 8.3% from last year. Over the last 5 years, ConnectOne Bancorp has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 17.00%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. ConnectOne's current payout ratio is 25%, meaning it paid out 25% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

CNOB is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $3.30 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 25.00%.

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.

For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers its shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, CNOB presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

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